18 May 2009

My husband, the Carnivore, turns 32 today, and of course, he's going to ask for his normal birthday meal - Chicken Parm. Now, he loves this stuff like white loves rice, so of course I'm going to make it for him.

Typically what we do is swing from the carnivore end of the spectrum in winter to the vegan end in summer. Spring and Fall are transitions. It keeps no one extremely happy all the time, and everyone very happy some of the time.

And it keeps me on my toes.

Honestly, after a winter of 'flexitaring' over to the meat side of the pond, I'm just kind of 'done' with meat - and I'm allergic to dairy - so I've developed this variation of his favorite meal for myself.

Tofu Parmesan is surprisingly easy to make, if you have a few basic ingredients preassembled. This vegan version omits the traditional egg dip in favor of Italian dressing, which adds a lot of flavor to the meat itself. You’ll want to ensure that the dressing is vegan.

The addition of seasoned breadcrumbs enhances the dish, so that every bite is packed with taste. This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled and frozen. Simply freeze the dish after it has been assembled and before it has been baked the second time. To reheat, place - frozen - in a 400 degree oven for 18-20 minutes or until heated through.

11 May 2009

There's a lot of great information out there in the health food community. And a lot of weird, unscientific, hinky stuff, too. How do you figure out what to believe? Well, if you're smart, you do your research...

Let me preface this article by saying I love raw foods. I love the creativity of the cuisine. I love the fresh, local approach to diet. I love eating salads and nuts and all kinds of cool things. I am a raw foodie, a member of several raw food communities, and an active participant in recipe creation.

That said, I'm a big believer in doing things that make sense. And in the Raw Community, there's advice and recipes founded on food science, and then there's everything else, founded on food philosophy.

28 February 2009

Nopers, people, your eyes are not fooling you. What you are staring at is homemade vegan cheese, shredded for prettifulness. You may be wondering how on earth I did that...

Glad you asked!

In this blog post I'm going to clue you in on the wonders of dairy free cheese. Hopefully by the time you've read this article and tested out my sample recipe, you'll understand the 'why's of dairy free cheese making and will be able to use the knowledge to make your own tasty cheese alternative.

Okay, so normally I'd launch into the many, many reasons why people choose to use or make dairy free cheeses - you know the drill - veganism, dairy allergy, dietary restrictions due to religious preferences that can't quite silence the siren call of cheeseburgers at midnight.... But my guess is that if you're searching the internet for 'dairy free cheese' or 'vegan cheese' or what-have-you, you don't really need a primer on the 'why nots' of dairy and are looking for something simple to get down to business.

And chances are if you've searched for a vegan or dairy free cheese recipe, it's because you've:

a) just paid entirely too much for something that smelled like stinky feet and tasted like turpentine

b) tried a recipe that just frankly SUCKED monkey eyeballs. You know the recipes.

There are several reasons typical vegan cheeses don't taste good to regular folk - among them the fact that vegans typically don't remember what real cheese tastes like and therefore have nothing to use as a Constant, to steal a term from my beloved show Lost (Best. Show Ever!)....

Penny is Desmond's constant, you see, which means he can't get lost in time anymore and(ahem...). Oh yes, this is a post about cheese. Where where we????

Cheddar is my constant. And vegans generally don't have cheddar as a constant. They have some overpriced form of soy cheese or something else barely palatable. And therefore anything homemade is bound to be an improvement. Unless you're a newbie to the whole enterprise and therefore not willing to settle for cheeze whiz flavored every-kind-of-cheese.

Another reason is that most vegan cheeses are ALL WRONG when it comes to the proportions of ingredients. The fat, sodium, and calorie count are all crazy and therefore the mouth feel is usually odd at best and nasty or worse otherwise.

Why does this happen? Mostly because people don't think aboutthose things. Fat content and protein and mouth feel and sodium are hugely important, but when you're mostly thinking about things like making a cheese 'sharper' or 'more melty' you forget that the mouth relies upon these cues as heavily as taste.

Honestly, though, I've seen enough Jo Stepaniak rip-off recipes to think that people don't really go outside of the box in how they formulate a cheese recipe, even for taste. If tahini worked for Jo, tahini works for them. And they forget to specify which tahini (trust me, people, it does make a difference!) or, or, or... And so they end up with a cheese that's all wrong on mouth feel and even wronger on taste.

And Jo's recipes - some of which are quite good, in all fairness - are, in the end, created by a long-term vegan. Which sometimes leads to strange cheese, indeed.

Which is how you - one of the smart ones - ended up here, learning how to make a proper cheese.

Okay, so here's the Food Science Lite of cheese making. Follow these rules and you'll be able to make a cheese to your liking:

1. Learn the Macros of the Cheese you're trying to make

By macros, I mean Macronutrients: the calorie, fat, carb, protein and (in the case of cheese) sodium content of the particular cheese you're trying to make.

This is very important, because you're going to have to replicate as closely as possible this series of numbers. The closer you get to the real macros the more likely you are to reach a satisfactory recipe.

Most dairy cheeses are high on three counts: Fat, Sodium, and Protein. If your macro count is too low in these three areas, your cheese will taste and feel 'off' or 'flat'.

Dairy Cheeses also happen to generally be low in carbohydrate. If your count is too high in this area, you'll end up with a 'sweet' cheese that tastes too much like a processed cheese or a pudding. You see this mistake in a lot of cheeses that rely on oats as a binder.

2. Find acceptable substitutes for those macros

You absolutely must match each macro for the cheese to 'feel' right in your mouth and to satisfy you properly. The easiest way to do this is to plug your ingredients into an online software like fitday or The Daily Plate and see what your macros look like compared to the dairy cheese you're trying to replicate. Let's take each macro at a time and list some of the possibilities you could use, by way of example:

Calorie - Calories will generally take care of themselves. If your other macros are right, that is. If your calories are low and your macros are not right, look for ways to boost the calories using ONLY the macros that you need.

Fat - Dairy Cheeses utilize saturated fats. This is very important for the mouth feel and consistency of the cheese. If you want a shreddable cheese that melts under heat, you're going to need some form of solid fat. You could use any number - Crisco, Earth Balance sticks, Palm oil... but I think virgin coconut oil is perfect for this application and tastes best in the finished product.

Coconut oil is also a beneficial saturated fat - it boosts your metabolism, helps your nerve function, and does all kinds of friendly things to your system, so you don't have to feel quite so bad about chomping it up. It also gets really hard in the fridge, which will help when you're attempting to shred your finished dairy free cheese.

Other great sources of fat are nuts (which also add protein and body) and tahini, which also adds a 'bitter' or cultured taste for those who wish to avoid soy.

Carbs - Most dairy cheeses are low in carbs, so you're going to want to avoid high carb ingredients in many applications. Keep this in mind when formulating a recipe. There are a few exceptions, I've found, but in general adding grains or sugars to a cheese recipe is a big no-no.

Protein - Most dairy cheeses have about as many grams of protein as fat. This can get tricky. Vegan sources of protein also tend to be higher in carbohydrate, so you're going to have to carefully balance a few protein sources in a single recipe to ensure that the ratios stay in place. Great sources of vegan protein include: nutritional yeast (which also tastes cheesy), nuts, soy, tahini (ground sesame seeds), miso (fermented soy paste - which helps add a 'cultured' or aged taste to a cheese), and protein isolates, like pea protein isolate and soy protein isolate.

In general I avoid the isolates - you can usually get a good ratio of protein and fat from other nonspecialized sources and the texture tends to be better. Those with a nut or soy allergy, though, may need to utilize something like a pea protein isolate.

It's important here to add something that, while it doesn't actually add protein, does something that the casein protein in dairy cheeses usually does - this is agar. Agar is a dried seaweed/seaweed extract that can be used interchangeably as a substitute for gelatin. It comes in two forms - flakes and powder. The powder is about twice as strong as the flakes and dissolves more easily, meaning less time in the kitchen. Agar is pretty expensive, so once you find you'll be making a lot of cheese you should probably buy it online. Non vegan people could use gelatin instead of agar, in roughly the same amounts, and this will also add protein to the finished recipe, but I wouldn't recommend it. An advantage agar has over gelatin is that it sets at room temperature, so you can leave your finished cheese on the counter without it turning into a pile of goo. Agar seems to melt more easily, too, which makes it the preferred of the two, even for non vegans.

Sodium - Here you can use normal salt to increase the sodium to the proper levels. The reason dairy cheeses tend to be so high in sodium is that many of them are salted during the curing process. This helps leach out fluids, preserve the milk until it ages, and adds a pleasing taste dimension. This, next to fat, is one of the most important macros to check for correctness. Another less effective method of adding sodium is using celery juice in place of water.

3. Determine which taste components are needed

Every dairy cheese has a 'flavor profile' - sharp, sweet, bland, smoky. This flavor profile is very important to match, if you want the cheese to taste right, as well as feel right. Your homemade cheese will benefit from melding for at least 4 hours or overnight - this allows separate taste components to mellow and mesh and will give you the most authentic taste. It's important to note that some seasonings sharpen over time (like garlic) which others mellow, and what tastes 'right' when the cheese is fresh may be too strong or weak once it's set.

These are the flavor components of most cheeses:

Salty - Most aged cheeses are very salty. In general the sharper the cheese, the saltier the taste. Also, anything brined (like feta) will be sharper. Flavor enhancers for this include: salt, nutritional yeast, miso

Sweet - The fresh, unaged cheeses tend to be higher in carbohydrate content due to the higher lactose content (aging destroys or eats this sugar in aged cheeses). This includes cream cheeses and ricottas as well as some 'stretchy' cheeses like mozzarella. Flavor components that add to this are sugars, some nuts like macadamia or almond, some grains like rice or corn. In general unless you're creating an unaged cheese sub, you won't need a lot of additional sweetening.

Savory/Umami - This flavor profile comes from the aging process of cheeses. THe more aged a cheese, the more important this flavor profile becomes. You'll want to use things like miso, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, ume plum vinegar, and onion and garlic powders.

Bitter - Bitter taste in cheese is often so slight as to be unimportant, but the bitter taste profile can exchange to a degree with umami or savory taste. A good example of this is Tahini, which can sometimes substitute for the umami taste for those who do not want to use a soy miso.

Sour - Sour taste is a by product of aging or brining dairy cheeses and is an important compenent of taste as long as it doesn't overwhelm the palate. Flavor components here can be: vinegars, lemon juice, citric acid or cream of tartar, or lactic acid cultures (which can be vegan, if ordered specially). This is particularly important in cultured dairy subs like sour cream and cream cheese, where a lactic acid culture or probiotic is ideal for recreating the essential flavor of the item.

Others- taste components like annatto (common in orange cheeses), turmeric, tomato paste, liquid smoke, and others can all be part of the non dairy cook's arsenal. Used sparingly these flavor constituents can all play a part in bringing together a taste reminiscient of the real thing.

Some things to note about non dairy cheeses:

While you may be able to replicate the taste and mouth feel of a cheese, it is very hard to replicate EVERY aspect of dairy cheese.

A 'for instance': It is possible to get a melty cheese that stretches, for instance, but you must use gelatin in place of agar (and enough of it to make the room temperature cheese gagolicious) - certainly not an ideal situation for a vegan. Most vegan melty cheeses will not truly melt until direct high heat is applied (like a broiler) and then a gently spreading of the 'melted cheese' with a knife may help the process along. And then they will not stretch - you end up with more of a cheese sauce type thing, with a lovely skin. Not bad, but not 'stretchy'. Be warned.

Another 'for instance': A good vegan cheese is shreddable, but it doesn't usually hold up as well to rough handling as dairy cheese. The reason is that the casein, which forms strong webbed bonds in normal cheese, makes for a stronger support system than the agar. The solution is to only shred very cold non dairy cheese (allowing the fats to be as solid as possible and the agar to be as firm as possible) and to do so gently working in one direction as you glide the cheese along the shredder.

You're going to want to create your cheese to be ideal for the final presentation - will you be melting it on a pizza? shredding it for salad? putting it in a sandwich? Each of these options will require you to make some decisions about ratios of things like agar and flavor components, and you should keep that in mind when deciding how to tweak your recipe. For example, I tend to use less agar in my cheddar cheese when I'm using it for a baked mac and cheese (where I use it hot as a melted cheese sauce) than I do when I want to shred it for salads.

Moving on to the recipe....

Here's a basic recipe for a good block (shreddable, meltable) cheddar cheese. You'll need to let the cheese 'cure' in the fridge at least overnight, in order to allow it to set properly and to ensure best flavor. This cheese was created to replicate Helluvagood's sharp cheddar cheese and makes slighly more than a pound of cheese. Remember - you may prefer a sharper or milder cheddar cheese, so feel free to play with the flavor components until you get a taste you prefer, but don't forget to double check your macros!

I think you'll find this equal to or superior to the vegan cheddars available commercially or in recipe form on the web.

This is NOT a tweak on anyone else's version of vegan cheese and is original to me, so you'll need to notify me if you do share this recipe (feel free to share with everyone! If you want to post this recipe elsewhere, please feel free, but remember to link back to this post and my original recipe.) Thanks!

In a small saucepan, mix the agar powder and 1 1/2 c water and let sit for a few minutes. Bring to a boil on medium heat, adding the coconut oil. Let boil, stirring occassionally, for abotu 3 to 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in the bowl of your food processor, blend the almonds. At first they will turn into almond meal and then will begin to turn into almond paste. Add the miso and nutritional yeast and process until the mixture leaves the sides of the bowl and turns a bit doughy. Add the tomato paste, lemon, onion powder and salt and blend until thoroughly combined.

At this point, the agar and coconut oil should be melted and bubbling like thick syrup or hot gelatin. Quickly pour into the food processor. Process the whole thing until smooth. This should be about the consistency of cake batter or smooth cheese sauce. Add a little water if necessary - up to 1 1/2 c, if you find your mixture is too thick, and blend again.

Scrape into the prepared container and let cool uncovered, at least 3 hours or overnight, in the fridge. You may cover it after 3 hours. This will continue to flavor-meld and is better if left overnight. May be shredded or used anywhere cheddar is called for.

* Those avoiding nuts can use plain whole fat soy milk instead of the water in the recipe (omit the nuts entirely) OR may substitute raw hulled sunflower seeds instead. You should also increase the agar by 1 tbsp ( 3 tbsp of flakes) to thicken the body. This will yield a smoother, softer cheese.** Those avoiding soy can use tahini instead, and should also do one of the following:-substitute 2 tbsp ume plum vinegar for half of the lemon- increase the onion powder by 1-2 tsp*** Pureed red pepper can be used instead of tomato products. Those avoiding nightshades can use 1-2 tsp ground annatto (american saffron) and a dash of turmeric instead

20 January 2009

This week's Menu Swap ingredient is Dal (lentils), chosen by our beloved SeaMaiden. Not even sure if I'm in the swap, right now, since I'm still catching my breath from updating my company's website, but I thought I'd jump in anyway, and enjoy the ride.

Tuesday nights at our House, we try to expand the palate. Generally we stick to Indian food, in honor of our Worldvision Child, K* - I'd stuck with South Indian food (K*'s area of the country) predominately, until my poor 5 year old just couldn't handle the spiciness anymore. Now I try a wider range - my 7 year old still begs for hot, hot, hot food - and I also incorporate some non-Indian food, like Moroccan, Persian, or Japanese. Anything to broaden the cultural horizons.

This week, since dal was conveniently on the list, I decided to scrap the meal I was going to make and try my hand at Idli. Unfortunately, Idli takes a long presoak, which I frankly, couldn't be fussed enough to do last night, so I skipped it completely, and moved on to Kachori.

Quick Note To Self: If you can't be fussed to do something, it's probably not a good idea to embark on an Indian Food Recipe, since Indian Food is all about the fuss. Just Saying

Kachori are savory-sweet stuffed balls of whole wheat dough, deep fried and served with 'pickle', which as far as I've been able to ascertain is a more spiced and often sweeter version of our own, American lactic acid fermented pickles.

Now, obviously, if you're gluten free, like my family, there's going to have to be some adjustments to the recipe off the bat. I subbed in my trusty Better Batter Gluten Free Flour for the whole meal, and in order to replicate the taste, I also used a judicious amount of my favorite teff and sorghum flours. This created a 'whole wheat' that was perfect for the dough.

The original recipe as I received it was also a bit heavy and spicy for both Smurfling and The Carnivore, so I omitted the 'chilli powder' (cayenne) called for and added a subtle paprika. I also substituted potato for half of the lentil paste. This lightened the filling and made it more subtle. I thought it was a definite improvement, even though I'm typically a lentil lover. It does change the taste, making the overall impression much sweeter, but it was fantastic.

Feel free to oven bake these, but you won't get the same texture as the real deal, which must be fried.

Have fun! This recipe serves 4 as an entree. You'll want to serve it with some 'pickle' and - if you're like me, a refreshing green salad, to help balance the heaviness of the meal.

InstructionsIn your food processor, blend the cooked lentils and potatoes until a paste forms. Add the oil or melted margarine, the salt and spices, and blend some more.

Heat a pan over medium high heat and turn the potato-lentil mixture into it. Stirring vigorously, cook the potato lentil mixture until it forms a ball and pulls away from the pan - this should take 5-6 minutes. Set aside.

In a bowl, combine Better Batter Flour, teff, sorghum, and salt. Stir in the oil and mix until the oil is evenly distributed. Add the hot water 1/2 c at a time and knead together - this should form a sticky dough. Set aside for 10 mintes.

The dough should have gotten less tacky at this point - more like pla-dough. Divide into 14 balls.

Faltten each ball into a disk, in the palm of your hand. The disks work best about 3- 4 inches in diameter and 1/8 inch thick.

One disk at a time, take a spoon and fill the center of the dough disk with the cooked potato-lentil paste. Form a ball around the paste, bringing the edges of the dough together and pinching to seal. Very slightly flatten the balls with your palms.

Heat enough oil to come halfway up the kachoris. Set the heat to medium. Place a few kachoris at a time in the oil, and fry until golden brown. Serve hot.

19 January 2009

And when it gets this cold, it's time to pull out the major comfort food. Cold mornings around here call for hot tea and something warm to nosh on, and this week, nothing sounded better than a plate of hot, soft, streusal topped muffins - the scent of spices filling the warming kitchen as the tea brews and the jam is warmed gently for spreading.

I have been trying to slowly wean my family off of its enormous appetite for eggs - eggs are all good and well, but when you're trying to do the green thing, they can get really pricey; and I've been trying to find ways to cut back from our four dozen a week habit.

A lot of baked goods can get by without the eggs. There are a lot of tricks one can use - pureed veggies and fruits as binders, chia gel, flaxseed 'egg'... the possibilities are there. Of course, you've got to be careful. Subbing in a banana in a standard muffin recipe works well, but it also makes the muffin into a banana muffin. In fact, any of the usual substitutes for eggs may change the recipe enough to make it a totally different beast.

That's not always a bad thing. These muffins started their lives as plain cinnamon streusal muffins. Sweet and warm, but really nothing more than glorified cinnamon toast, in my opinion. The decision to add pumpkin to the mix elevated these to another level of moist goodness, and allowed the streusal topping to enhance the muffin, rather than the muffin being there as the excuse to eat the streusal topping.

We chose to eat this muffin with Earth Balance and a lovely apricot-ginger-lemon marmalade that my grandmother gave me. A fantastic combination, but really gilding the lily. These muffins are fantastic as is.